Darpan Sharma

Candidate for City Councillor

Contact Information

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Personal Information

Resident of: Sahali
Age: 41
Current Occupation: real estate, finance, self employed

New Candidate

Political Experience:

I started my political career as a volunteer with the conservative party of Canada in Kamloops. I have experience running federal campaigns, I have taken a campaign manager course called victory school offered by the conservative party of Canada. I was also the past president of the CPC Electoral District Association for Kamloops Thompson Cariboo.

Biography

I am 41 years old, moved to Canada from India at 22 to pursue my Master's in Business administration, I have corporate experience in the US, Canada, and India. I currently work for myself in real estate investing, finance and stocks. I have 2 beautiful children, aged 7 & 10, both boys, and an amazing wife. My mother also lived with me. In 3 years I would have spent half my life in Canada, which still seems like a dream come true. I have had a passion for politics, as far back as I can remember. Especially around accountability, ethics, and fiscal responsibility. I believe civic politics is the most underrated level of politics where most people don't vote but it affects our lives in more ways than we know.


Answers to Questions from the Public

Do you think education should be treated as an essential service?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the School Trustee 73 - TEA1 Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

absolutely!! not only it should be treated as an essential service, affordable education including university should be a human right. Not one child should be kept from getting higher education because of money. That's the only way for less fortunate Canadians to get ahead in life.

What do you believe are the critical issues facing your community and school district?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the School Trustee 73 - TEA1 Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

This was answered in an earlier question on 3 critical issues. I am not knowledgeable about the school district and will leave it to be answered by the school trustee candidates.

Many communities are facing drug addiction challenges, homelessness and have seen increase in crime and property crimes. How would advocate for our disadvantaged community members and what solutions would you propose?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

We have to advocate for residents, businesses along with the disadvantaged community together, it has to be two fold.
For the disadvantaged community we promote recovery along with harm reduction, we lobby the province and make it mandatory for the social agencies to provide wrap-around services. It was tried by our council but they got cold feet and diluted the whole motion by adding two words "where applicable"

For our citizens, we need to stop the secret meetings when it comes to social housing, the only reason I can think why they conduct these secret meetings when it comes to social housing is that they are ashamed of the decisions being made without any consultations with the community. We need to be equal partners with BC Housing, CMHA, and the province on where these facilities should go. What we are doing right now is not working, and that's an understatement.
Also to my understanding, there is no more car 40 in Kamloops, I called 2 days ago and was told the same. We have a few incumbents in this section lobbying for more car 40s. I don't know what to think of that.

Many municipalities are facing ongoing problems and are dealing with staffing issues as part of the current health care crisis. Describe from a local government perspective how would you plan to recruit workers to our community?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

By providing enough housing, dealing with the crime pandemic, and making Kamloops a vibrant and safe community to live in. Although healthcare is not in the civic govt mandate, we can certainly lobby with the interior health and the province to raise the standard of the work environment at IH. Family-based practices can be given property tax incentives.
We can certainly help with the recruitment process, make it easier and more welcoming for doctors to move to Kamloops, help with the jobs for spouses, house hunting, childcare, etc. But quite frankly Interior health needs to wake up from its slumber.

Describe how you would prioritize fire and flood management and other infrastructure issues such as poor roads and services in our community. Are you prepared to raise taxes to pay for improved infrastructure?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

By being proactive and not reactive. I am not an expert in fire and flood management. But I can certainly say that the city failed during the juniper fires. Insensitive comments from our CAO didn't help either.
Before raising taxes in any circumstances, we need to see if we can save the same dollar somewhere> so in theory, I am ok with raising taxes for better infrastructure but only after we have exhausted every avenue of saving those dollars to pay for these projects. Tax increases should always be the last option, especially in these difficult economic times.

Define Fiduciary Responsibility and how would you personally apply this to an elected role in Council or the TNRD.

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

The duty of a person/party(council) to act on behalf of somebody else (taxpayer), in most cases its financial.
I am reading the replies from several incumbents who are in this section talking about fiduciary responsibility and I can't help but think every one of them justified these catered meals and alcohol or ignored the ban on catered meals and alcohol. $677K was spent on meals and alcohol in 4 years, out of which $177K was spent on one high-end restaurant without an RFP.
I will put forward a motion in my first 10 days to ban this practice. The city quoted me $1900 to get information about the money spent on brownstone restaurant over 4 years. It left me wondering if I am in the 1970s and if they aren't using accounting software. Canadian taxpayers federation has filed for this FOI, but last time I checked they are still waiting on a response. Maybe the city will reply after this upcoming election.

Millions of jobs were lost during the pandemic. Describe how you will advocate for replacing those lost jobs with good union jobs.

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

I can go on and on about this subject. How about we start by fixing how the current council dismantled the by-laws division during the peak of the pandemic, by introducing an RCMP-level fitness test which I guarantee no councilor or director can pass themselves? Now we are in the midst of arbitration which the city will lose, guaranteed. We need to bring back all the experienced staff whom we lost to this unethical fitness test and back our CUPE 900.
Community services officers can be in addition to the by-laws. Let's start locally for the 26 people whose lives were uprooted because our council took orders from the management and couldn't stand up for our union. Let's do this first and then we can talk about the other millions of jobs that were lost due to the pandemic.

What steps will you take to work towards action on Truth and Reconciliation?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

When I immigrated to Canada we were given a book about Canada. Sometimes that's the only time new Canadians will read about our first people. For somebody who didn't do his schooling in Canada, just like many other immigrants, I was not knowledgeable about the problems and tragedies our first people faced in the past. We need to promote education on this subject for new immigrants.
Rest has to come from our first people, it's their lived experience, we need to listen to them they should lead us on what they want when it comes to truth and reconciliation.

How will you promote ethical purchases, including local unionized goods and services, where available?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor, School Trustee 73 - TEA1 Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

By supporting local bids. We can tell who produces it, where it was produced, and how is the business run. Local local local. Local unions, businesses, and suppliers whenever possible.

What steps would you take to ensure your local government hiring practices reflect the community’s population diversity? Are you aware of any existing Employment Equity policies in your community or other communities?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

The city recently hired for an equity and diversity position. But when we say we need to ensure hiring practices reflect the community's population diversity, what does that mean? Is our city turning down minority candidates who are qualified with education and experience for certain positions? I am an immigrant from India and I personally want the most qualified person for the job regardless of their color, race, religion, ethnicity, and sexual orientation. If there is any proof that minorities aren't being hired for positions in spite of having proper education and qualifications then yes we need to change that.

Describe how you will address housing needs and housing that people can afford in your community?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

Infill development and multi-family housing is the only solution that can deal with the rising problem of affordable housing. I recently met with the board of the Canadian home builders association and they need a quick turnaround time for permits, less red tape with zoning and re-zoning, subjective efficiency requirements, etc. We can't keep on saying that we have an affordable housing pandemic and then create problems i.e. Nimbyism.
Permits, zoning, and rezoning can not take more time than the actual construction. It's an economics problem. More demand and less supply will always result in unaffordable housing.

What can local governments do to attract and create green jobs and businesses in their community?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

To my understanding venture Kamloops deals with promoting jobs and investments in Kamloops. Green jobs are a big part of the future of our economy. We have to invest heavily in greener jobs. The climate action plan for the city promised a 30% reduction by 2030 and 80% by 2050, and we are nowhere near those targets. Venture Kamloops needs to attract employers who promote green jobs, but we have been surpassed by Kelowna as a destination for all sorts of investments, including green jobs because of the red tape, bureaucracy, and opposition to change at the local level.
TRU has to be made a stakeholder with other organizations that promote green jobs/technology.

What steps would you take to ensure a Pay Equity policy is in place and that the policy is applied to all staff employed by the local government?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

It has to be promoted by unions, collective agreements, govt settings so that the corporate world can follow. We need more lobbying. There is nothing that a man can do but a woman cant. Again we need to include childcare and stronger maternity/paternity support for our workplaces to become more equitable.

Do you support the Living Wage for Families Campaign? Please explain why or why not.

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor, School Trustee 73 - TEA1 Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

We can't call ourselves a first-world country if we don't give our workers a living wage. Also, the living wage is not $17/hour in Kamloops, that's the bare minimum. All families need a living wage, I believe if we can come good on either a $10/day childcare or a universal childcare program, we can have thousands of men/women enter the workforce, increase their household income, etc.
I have very mixed feelings about UBI and haven't read enough to comment on it.

Describe your position on Contracting Out and Public Private Partnerships and how they effect existing jobs.

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor, School Trustee 73 - TEA1 Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

Contracting should only take place with local providers. It can not be to the detriment of the Union workers, ever. I am ok with PPP in some scenarios, again not at the expense of Union workers.
I know of instances where our city is using contractors for public works, because of the poisonous work environment with some of the managers, it says a lot when city employees are not taking overtime and letting go of financial security because they can't deal with the management.

What are the top three critical issues facing your community?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

1. Crime, addiction, and homelessness and shortage of affordable housing
2. Lack of accountability, transparency, ethics, and fiscal responsibility in the city hall.
3. Civic politicians who are enablers and promote addiction instead of recovery.

Are you or have you ever been active in any community organizations, actions, or campaigns?
Describe your volunteer work, positions, and any tangible change to the community from your involvement. Are you still involved with this work?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor, School Trustee 73 - TEA1 Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

I have been a past board member of the Kamloops Hindu cultural society, I have worked as a board member with our wonderful team for the last 5 years and we have successfully managed big events like Diwali which has seen the Kamloops community attend in the hundreds. I have also been a very proud campaign manager and volunteer for the conservative party of Canada federal campaign in the Kamloops area.
I take extreme pride in my work with the Kamloops Hindu cultural society in bringing forward and promoting Indian/Hindu culture with the amazing people of Kamloops. I had to step down 1 month ago due to my candidacy in the civic election.

If you are a Union member, does your union (provide union/local name) offer endorsement to members running for public office? If so, have you applied for/received endorsement from your union?

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor, School Trustee 73 - TEA1 Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

I am unfortunately not a Union member but I support what unions do and how they protect workers in today's corporate world.

Have you ever been a candidate or volunteered in a previous civic, provincial, or federal election? If so, please give details.

Asked by: Kamloops and District Labour Council asked the City Councillor, Mayor, School Trustee 73 - TEA1 Candidates
Darpan Sharma Answered

I have now volunteered and managed 3 federal campaigns for the conservative party of Canada, in Kamloops Thompson Cariboo.